My third photo-shoot will be focusing on the hidden aspect of gender identity that are often not spoken about. I will be focusing on the issues of women who do not want to present as feminine, and yet are forced to by society, as well as men who struggle to show their more feminine aspects without being shamed by society and historical gender norms. In order to do this, I will be focusing on more metaphorical imagery, using portraits and images of objects to do so, as I will be exploring the problems and consequences people face when they try to express themselves in a way they don’t want to/feel forced to.
Below I have included a mind-map of some ideas for this third photo-shoot:
For my third photo-shoot, I will be focusing more on the physical objects that can be associated with gender, and will be contrasting these with each other in the photograph. As the focus of my project is on breaking gender stereotypes (liberation of gender) and showing the truth behind peoples identities and the way they express themselves through gender, I will be focusing on creating images that encapsulate stereotypical gender roles and stereotypes, with small twists within the image that allow the viewer to realise that the image is not what it seems (specifically, that the stereotypes they link to the objects may not always be accurate. For this photoshoot I will be focusing on feminine objects, such as makeup and jewellery, and will be intertwining the idea that both women and men can suffer when it comes to expressing femininity, to create a contrast. This photo-shoot will be focused more on the hints to the viewer that some people express their identity in less stereotypical way, and that there are often social consequences for those who do this.
Below are the contact-sheets for my photo-shoot, I have indicated my decision making process using the brush tool:
COLOUR KEY: GREEN: tick – possible final image, rectangle – final image, question mark – possible final image, RED: line – rejected image, S – subject is in the wrong pose, O – wrong orientation, E – too high/low exposure, C – camera is in the wrong position, hatched red lines – shadow/unwanted aspect
COLOUR KEY: GREEN: tick – possible final image, rectangle – final image, question mark – possible final image, RED: line – rejected image, S – subject is in the wrong pose, O – wrong orientation, E – too high/low exposure, C – camera is in the wrong position, hatched red lines – shadow/unwanted aspect
COLOUR KEY: GREEN: tick – possible final image, rectangle – final image, question mark – possible final image, RED: line – rejected image, S – subject is in the wrong pose, O – wrong orientation, E – too high/low exposure, C – camera is in the wrong position, hatched red lines – shadow/unwanted aspect
COLOUR KEY: GREEN: tick – possible final image, rectangle – final image, question mark – possible final image, RED: line – rejected image, S – subject is in the wrong pose, O – wrong orientation, E – too high/low exposure, C – camera is in the wrong position, hatched red lines – shadow/unwanted aspect
COLOUR KEY: GREEN: tick – possible final image, rectangle – final image, question mark – possible final image, RED: line – rejected image, S – subject is in the wrong pose, O – wrong orientation, E – too high/low exposure, C – camera is in the wrong position, hatched red lines – shadow/unwanted aspect
COLOUR KEY: GREEN: tick – possible final image, rectangle – final image, question mark – possible final image, RED: line – rejected image, S – subject is in the wrong pose, O – wrong orientation, E – too high/low exposure, C – camera is in the wrong position, hatched red lines – shadow/unwanted aspect
COLOUR KEY: GREEN: tick – possible final image, rectangle – final image, question mark – possible final image, RED: line – rejected image, S – subject is in the wrong pose, O – wrong orientation, E – too high/low exposure, C – camera is in the wrong position, hatched red lines – shadow/unwanted aspect
This was the original image I began with.
For my first image, I wanted to separate the image itself from the background in order to replace the background with a simple black background (as I felt this would draw maximum attention to the image and details in the foreground). To do this, I used the lasso tool to highlight the areas of the background, and deleted it from the layer. I then went around the edges of the image with a 0% hardness eraser tool in order to soften the boarders so that it would blend more realistically with the black background.
Here, I erased the background of the image, and softened the edges of the image with the eraser.
I then added a black background to the image to make the foreground image stand out more and draw maximum attention:
Once the black background was added, I erased the remaining areas which looked uneven, and I smoothed out all boarders of the image.
I decided to focus on the contrast of the shades, textures and shapes of the image, and therefore decided to make the image black and white, and raise the contrast substantially in order to emphasise these contrasting aspects:
Here, I altered the image to black and white in order to increase the contrast, and also increased the contrast of the colour itself to highlight this.
After increasing the contrast and turning the image black and white, the boarders of the image faded more into the background, allowing the image to fit more flush with the background.
I decided that for this image, I wanted to highlight a certain area of colour in order to draw the viewers attention to the image, and to provide a small amount of contrast in the image which would draw attention to the jewellery that the subject was wearing (by highlighting the colour of the stone, the viewer can more easily focus on the jewellery itself, rather than looking at the whole image as a flat continuous image). To to this, I copied the original coloured image, and copied the stone using the lasso tool. I then pasted that over the top of the black and white image, and smoothed out the edges:
I first copied the original stone from the coloured image, and pasted it into a seperate layer.I pulled this layer to the top, above the black and white later, and layer the coloured stone over the top of the black and white stone.I then smoothed out the edges to sit the stone smoothly onto the black and white image.
The final image can be seen below:
I used the same sort of editing process for the other final images in my photo-shoot. I increased the contrast of many of my photos, (especially if the image was going to be turned monochrome in order to increase contrast between shapes).
Below are my final images for this photo-shoot:
for the below image, I used the lasso tool to cut the lip mark out of the original layer and paste it onto asseverate later. I then made the first layer monochrome and increased the colour contrast of the lips to make them stand out from the background. I also cut the mirror from the background and replaced the table background with all black to force the viewer to focus on the image in the foreground:
This was the image after I turned it monochrome, before I pulled the layer with the lip mark to the front.
These were the 2 separate layers to show the contrast between the coloured lipstick and the black and white background.
After pulling the lip print to the front, I increased the contrast of the red colour, and this was the final result.
A photo by Walker Evans, from “Cotton Tenants: Three Families.”
In this black and white image you can see a family of five and a dog standing on what looks likes a front porch. By the worn down clothes they are wearing and the poor state of the building they stand by, you can assume that they are a working class family and are struggling with poverty. You are immediately drawn to the man standing in the middle of the image, in front of the rest of his family. This may have been done on purpose to represent his importance to the family as the typical ‘bread-winner’, as during this era it was the husband who worked while the wife and children stayed at home.
The Great Depression was the worst economic downfall that has happened in American history. The stock market crash in October 1929 was the beginning of the Great Depression, and due to this by 1933 unemployment was at 25% and more than 5000 banks had gone out of business. The average family income during this time was $1,500, 40% less than what families usually earned before the start of the economic downfall, in turn leaving families stressed with just under half of their usual income gone. For his series ‘Cotton Tenants : Three Families’, Walker Evans photographed three families who were struggling with poverty to capture the effects of the Great Depression in Hale County, Alabama, and to expose the effects of this to the world. The people in the image above was one of the many families in that area who were facing destitution due to the economical decline during that era. At the time Evans photographed these three families, it was the height of the Great Depression and this was the time where people were finding it the hardest to cope. You can clearly see the effects it had on this family – they wouldn’t have been able to afford clean clothes, as portrayed by the rags they wore, nutritious food or the right equipment to fix and clean their house.
Latoya Ruby – The Notion of Family
In this image you can see two women sat on the floor in the middle of the black and white image. They both look at the camera with two different expressions, the older woman having a slight frown on her face while the younger woman looks a bit happier with a hint of a smile on her lips. They look like they’ve been interrupted from the middle of a conversation that they were having. They seem comfortable in each other’s presence, which indicated that they’ve known each other for a while and have a bond. The older woman looks to be the younger woman’s grandmother, as they both look similar to each other. The room they’re sitting in seems to be the living room, with the television and numerous other decorations, including the grandfather clock in the background. By the look of the room they don’t look like they’re struggling with money, but they don’t look like they are a middle or high class family either.
In Latoya Ruby’s series ‘ The Notion of Family’, she looks at the legacy of racism and economic decline in America’s small towns, through the use of her home town of Braddock, Pennsylvania which became financially depressed after the fall of the steel industry in the 1970s-1980’s. To look at these issues she focuses on three generations of her family – her grandmother, her mother and herself – and photographs them in their home. She follows the social documentary style of Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange to create images which were inspired by Gordon Parks, who promoted the camera as a weapon for social justice. Her images, including the one above, are raw photographs of her family and captures the authenticity of the moment. With the use of black and white images, she is able to highlight the beauty of her home town and how this place has affected her family’s life along with the other people who lived in the area.
Comparison :
Both images include family – in Walker Evans’ image you can clearly see the family of five standing together on the porch, and in Latoya Ruby’s image you can see a grandmother and her granddaughter. When it comes to the contexts of their images, they are similar in the way in which they both look at the effect of economic downfall on families. Evans was exploring the effect of the Great Depression on families within small communities, while Ruby was looking at her own family in the time of racism and economic downfall in her home town of Braddock, Pennsylvania. However it is different in the way which while Evans was looking at multiple different families and how they were effected by a country-wide event, Ruby was only looking at the effects of economic downfall on her small hometown, and her own family. As Latoya Ruby was looking at her own family, she had more of a connection with those who she was photographing and knew them well, so she could shape her photographs to suit their personalities, lives, ect, whereas Walker Evans didn’t know the families personally and did not have that connection, so he may not have been able to take images which truly reflect who these people are. – unfinished
“Fast Forward” is a powerful look at Los Angeles youth culture and its influence on the rest of our society. From the affluent children of the Westside to the graffiti gangs and party crews of East LA, young Angelenos reckon with an overwhelming barrage of advertising and entertainment images emphasizing money, possessions, and eternal youth. This collection of 79 color photographs, accompanied by interviews with the children and their parents, reveals the realities of growing up fast in a culture that is at once irresistible and unforgiving. A compelling precursor to Greenfield’s widely praised “Girl Culture,” “Fast Forward” is a telling document of the direction in which today’s ultra image-conscious culture is pointed.
It also documents the experience of growing up in Los Angeles, and the ways children are influenced by the values of Hollywood. The quest for “fame,” the preoccupation with trends, the culture of materialism, and the obsession with image that characterizes Hollywood is reflected in the everyday lives and rituals of L.A. youth. A recurring theme in the project is the fleeting quality of youth. As one teenager says, “You grow up really fast when you grow up here. L.A. is so fast-moving, and kids really mature at a young age. Everyone is in a rush to be old, to be going to the clubs, going out… It’s not cool to be a kid.”
Who?
The photographer who created this book is Lauren Greenfield, an american artist, documentary photographer and documentary film maker, who has published four photographic monographs, directed four documentary features, produced four travelling exhibitions, and published in magazines throughout the world.
Lauren made this book as a result of her being interested into how kids in Los Angles seem to grow up quicker under the influence of Hollywood, and how they are affected by the culture of materialism and the cult of image.
Single Image Analysis:
Mijanou and friends from Beverly Hills High School spending their Senior Beach Day at Will Rogers State Beach in Los Angles. Mijanou won the title of “best phisique” at Beverly Hills High.
The photo that really launched Lauren’s career was called Mijanou and friends from Beverly Hills High School on Senior Beach Day. A picture taken in 1993 in Santa Monica, California, as part of her project Fast Forward: Growing Up in the Shadow of Hollywood.
Greenfield came to make this picture circuitously through an internship at National Geographic, which was the professional experience to which Lauren’s career is also indebted. In the process of making this photograph and the project for which it became the iconic image, Greenfield explains how she found her voice as a photographer.
The photograph of Mijanou ended up being the cover of the book and was published and exhibited internationally. Mijanou wasn’t rich, but she lived in a world where her friends were. She explained to Greenfield about the pressures of her world and how it was hard when you could not keep up, but she also recognized that her beauty allowed her entrée into the popular clique.
3. Deconstruct the narrative, concept and design of the book such as:
Book in hand: how does it feel? Smell, sniff the paper.
In hand the book feel rigid, it smells like plain plastic with no real scent to it other than that other than plastic and plain card/paper.
Paper and ink: use of different paper/ textures/ colour or B&W or both.
The books opens with a card page and then is followed by glossy plastic pages with the images and text on until the final page. which is again, card.
Format, size and orientation: portraiture/ landscape/ square/ A5, A4, A3 / number of pages.
The book is landscape and is around an A4 size however is not exactly A4 and is probably a custom size. There area 127 pages.
The book is a hard cover with a dust jacket and uses saddle stitching.
Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing.
The title is very direct about what the project Is focusing on, it dictates exactly what the projects main theme Is without giving too much away. The choice to have ‘Fast Forward’ in large text is a smart idea because it makes the book seem more youthful and erratic, similar to life lives of the teenagers she isn’t photographing which is one of the main themes Greenfield is exploring in the book.
Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told?
The story is as described above about how Greenfield documents the life of teenagers growing up in Hollywood and how its faster and more full-on than other areas of the world. Therefore Lauren presents quite a fast paced approach to looking into all of the youths she is studying, quickly moving from one to another in order to keep up this fast paced theme.
Design and layout: image size on pages/ single page, double-spread/ images/ grid, fold- outs/ inserts.
Most of the images follow the theme of 1 page, 1 image, however throughout the book there are interludes where text is positioned on the side of a page and an image will take up about 2/3 of a double page spread. The normal image size would take up most of the page, leaving a small border around the edges which is usually white. There are no grids, fold outs or inserts.
Editing and sequencing: selection of images/ juxtaposition of photographs/ editing process.
The sequencing of images follows quite a logical pattern of putting images created in the same shoots or trying to present the same principles together on single pages one after another with slight variations here and there.
Images and text: are they linked? Introduction/ essay/ statement by artists or others. Use of captions (if any.)
The book has a preface written by the photographer Lauren Greenfield and a quote next to an image on the 11th page before the main part of the book begins. Then throughout the book for the majority of images there are small bits of text either dictating the event, situation, people and ages. Then as she pics out singular images to talk about she uses 1/3 of a double page spread to write text and the other 2/3 for the image.
A sentence – Witnessing my parents lives after their divorce and comparing it to when I was a child.
A paragraph – This book is about my parents and their lives after their divorce. My mum has re-married and lives in the UK now, whereas my dad still lives in Jersey with me. For me, I found the divorce and my mum moving away very hard, so I decided for this project to capture my parents lives and tell and honest truth about what a separated family is like. I also want to include own images of my childhood to show the juxtaposing lives of both my parents and the past and present.
Design: Consider the following
How you want your book to look and feel – I want my book to feel like a photo album. I want it to be plain black and simple.
Paper and ink – Id like the paper to be matte so the glossy images i take out of the photo albums will contrast it.
Format, size and orientation – Just a standard portrait sized book.
Binding and cover – hard cover, plain black.
Title – 7916 – parents marriage and divorce dates
Structure and architecture – just like a normal photobook but I want to insert images out of family photo albums as I feel like this will give the book an interesting tactile feel.
Design and layout – images of my mum will be on the left and the right way up, but then images of my dad will be upside down. This is a way to show their split and also made the reader engage with the book as to view the images of my dad they’ll have to turn the book upside down.
Editing and sequencing – I’m going to put any images I take into black and white but leave the archive images untouched.
Images and text – I want the images to be candid and of my parents daily lives, almost as a documentary. I feel that if my images are staged it would take the meaning away. no text.
These are my second set of finished images for my photo-book. They follow the same process of capturing and editing as my first set of photos, this can be read on my blog post of the same title. The only difference from this time is that I have chosen to use red as an accent colour in my editing as it contrasts against the black and white and when the book is actually created I plan on including it in other areas also, such as book title or page cover etc, therefore in the end it will match as a complementary colour. I have also taken an image from my last set and re-edited again as I wasn’t sure if it fitted or not. Again I am very satisfied with these images and will be using them all.
A sentence – I am going to explore bunkers created during the occupation and try and show how they have changed since the occupation.
A paragraphs – With this project, I am going to explore the bunkers around Jersey. With the images I collect from doing this, I am going to show how they have changed since World War 2 and the German occupation of Jersey. Through this I am going to try and show the memory of those involved within the war, whether it be through forced labour during the creation of the bunkers, or soldiers used within the war.
Design: Consider the following
How you want your book to look and feel – I want the book to seem fairly obvious as to what it is.
Paper and ink – Standard ink, will likely use paper that will not reflect a lot of light back.
Format, size and orientation – It will likely be in a landscape format and I may have it quite small
Binding and cover – Hardback book, one of the images I take I will probably use as a double page spread over the front and back cover.
Title – “no personal memories” – may change later in the project
Structure and architecture – Will likely structure the photobook very simply. Using similar images together and sequencing the book in a layout that works best.
Design and layout – Going to design it in a uniformed fashion, so that it has similar images together or format them in a sequence. I will likely lay it out so images of different bunkers are separated.
Editing and sequencing – will experiment with both black and white and colour, if I decide to use black and white, I will likely try adding high contrast to the images.
Images and text – Images will be taken of bunkers and show erosion and what has happened to them since The Occupation. I may add text to the photobook, perhaps something to do with the equipment at some bunkers around the island.
I want my book to have a more grunge aesthetic, but not to the point of being messy. I am thinking of using matte rather than glossy pages to help achieve this feel, using paper with a matte finish will also work well with the images within the book; as they are all very textured with added visual noise.
I am currently thinking of using a 10×8 in (25x20cm) size book, which is a standard landscape size. although I will include vertically orientated images in the book as well. I will most likely crop some images to make them square. I am also thinking of using an image wrap hardcover for the book.
As the book is about how fashion changes how a person can be viewed or treated, I am thinking of titling the book ‘prejudice’. However I am also considering other options, one of which is a less serious title: “Inside I’m crying, but outside I’m playing the Kazoo”.
The structure of the book will be a story told in pictures, but in reverse. A story which when simplified is about a man who gets attacked on the street, but he ends up being persecuted and punished due to wearing the more ‘thug’ looking clothes. It is not intended to be a realistic story, but more to send a message. So the book will start with him being persecuted, and end with him moments before being attacked.
The layout of the book will consist of two configurations; either each double-page spread will contain two full size images, or an image on one page and text on the other.
I will end the book with a conclusion of the story at the end, along with my essay.
A paragraph: Through the use of archival imagery and objects, along with a few landscapes, I intend on telling my family’s story, beginning with the fact that both my parents migrated to Jersey, to eventually marrying, having children, and separating.
Design: Consider the following
How you want your book to look and feel: since my book with be a personal story told through images I’d like mt book to have “photo album” feel and look as much as possible. Maybe through something such as a textured front and back cover, and through the look of the front and back.
Paper and ink:
Format, size and orientation: My book will have a mixture of landscape and portrait images, and for this reason I think the book would look best in a square format (12″x12″ / 7″x7″)
Binding and cover: Ideally I think a textured Cover would be best to fit in with my concept, or maybe a dust jacket so that I could include come contextual information on the inside of the book without compromising the design of the actual book.
Title: I am exactly sure on my title yet, however I want it to reflect the theme of family and relationships. I think it would be more effective if I made the title link in with something that directly related to my personal family story like Costa did with her metaphorical link to Mimosa in her title, “where mimosa bloom”.
Editing and sequencing: At the moment, the sequencing of my book and images will be in chronological order, however I may include some parallels with archival images and current day images in order to give the book a more emotional sentiment.
Images and text: I want to include minimal text in my book, As I want the sequencing of the images to tell the story. I may include things such as a small title, and perhaps the date under images if I feel they need to be explained, as seen in some photo albums, however it will be quite small in order to not distract from the images.
